1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to information technology (IT), and more particularly, to a multitasking circuit layout diagram silkscreen text handling method and system which is designed for use in conjunction with a computer platform for providing a silkscreen text handling function to a CAD (Computer-Aided Design) generated circuit layout diagram.
2. Description of Related Art
In the industry of electronics, the design of circuit boards typically utilizes a CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software program to draw the required circuit layout diagrams which are then used in automated processes to control the manufacture of circuit boards. The Allegro software program developed by the Cadence Corporation of USA, for example, is a widely employed CAD system that can help manufacturers in the layout design of circuit boards.
In practice, the circuit layout diagram of a computer motherboard or expansion card often needs to add some text-based data beside the circuit components, such as the serial numbers of the circuit components. This text-based data is customarily called “silkscreen”. When a circuit board is manufactured from the circuit layout diagram, the silkscreen text is produced by printing white paint onto the circuit board. In a circuit layout diagram generated by the Allegro CAD system, the silkscreen text is embedded in its associated circuit shape.
In practice, it is desired that the design of circuit shape and the design of silkscreen be separately conducted by different staff members. One drawback to the Allegro CAD circuit layout design system, however, is that the design of silkscreen is inherently associated with the design of circuit shape, and therefore cannot be separately multitasked. Since the Allegro CAD circuit layout design system lacks such a multitasking capability, the silkscreen text can be defined only during the importation of its associated circuit shape into the circuit layout diagram and pasted at specified location on the circuit layout diagram.
One drawback to the above-mentioned practice, however, is that when a circuit layout design engineer wants to modify the silkscreen text of a certain circuit shape on the circuit layout diagram, the operation includes a first step of deleting the circuit shape from the circuit layout diagram, a second step of importing the original version of the deleted circuit shape, and a third step of redefining the silkscreen text during the importation of the circuit shape. This practice is undoubtedly quite tedious, laborious, and time-consuming for the user to implement. Moreover, if the circuit shape has been modified after being imported to the circuit layout diagram, the imported original version of the circuit shape needs to be modified again. This repeated work makes the CAD operation even more laborious and inefficient.